French President Denounces Baseless Transphobic Rumours About Wife Brigitte

In a recent address at an International Women’s Day event in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out against unfounded conspiracy theories circulating about his wife, Brigitte, dismissing them as ‘fabricated scenarios’.

Macron, aged 46, expressed his frustration with the false information and fabricated narratives that have been targeting Brigitte, who is 70 years old and has been married to Macron since 2007.

He emphasized that the baseless claims are fueled by misogyny, a common experience for women online.

The rumours suggesting that Brigitte Macron is transgender have primarily been propagated by individuals on the political far-right who oppose Macron’s leadership.

These unfounded allegations resurfaced in June 2024, highlighting the persistent nature of this misinformation.

A couple of years ago, in 2021, Brigitte Macron faced similar accusations from individuals like anti-vaxxer medium Amandine Roy and journalist Natacha Rey who claimed she was not the biological mother of her children.

Rey went as far as co-authoring an article in a far-right magazine, Faits et Documents, alleging an investigation into Brigitte’s past to fuel the baseless conspiracy theories.

Shortly after, in December of that year, Rey and Roy participated in a lengthy four-hour interview discussing the conspiracy theory, which was eventually removed from online platforms.

Following the interview, Brigitte Macron’s previous name, ‘Jean-Michael Trogneux’, was trending on Twitter in France, despite the fact that it actually belonged to her brother.

In a legal battle, a French court found Rey and Roy guilty of slander for spreading the anti-trans rumours and fined them symbolically after appeals.

Brigitte’s youngest daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, expressed concerns about the impact of such false claims on society and the challenge of dispelling misinformation once it spreads on social media.

This instance is not isolated as powerful women like Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand have also been targeted by similar unfounded gender identity conspiracies.

Despite the challenges, Macron continues to lead France, recently appointing Gabriel Attal as a key government official earlier this year.